The invention relates to a method for visualizing a processing status of an order, wherein the order is issued by a management information system, and executed by an executing system, and wherein order related status reports in Job Definition Format are transmitted to the management information system by the executing system, and incoming status reports are being stored in the management information system.
The Job Definition Format “JDF” (and the Job Messaging Format “JMF” as a subset of JDF) comprises generally known data formats that were developed and are being maintained by the consortium “International Cooperation for the Integration of Processes in Prepress, Press and Postpress” (“CIP4-Consortium”). The development of JDF is based on the objective to standardize the communication between print shop, designer, advertising agency, customer for printed matters, and sub vendors of contractors in the framework of a networked graphic production for all production options and eventualities in a flexible manner and without restrictions.
JDF is based on the extensible markup language “XML”, a meta language, which is also generally known and developed by the World Wide Web Consortium for defining document types and, according to the intentions of the CIP4-Consortium, is to serve as a standard data format for describing processes and products, not only in all production areas of a networked print shop, in particular in sales, job costing, and order processing, production planning and control in the regular production, in preproduction, print, print post processing, and shipping, in the cross sectional areas, materials and warehouse management, financial and payroll accounting, controlling, cost accounting, and quality assurance.
Through vertical integration of data, on the one hand of the production process, and on the other hand, of the accounting sectors, JDF shall facilitate a standardized documentation of the relevant target and actual data, and seamless production control. In particular, a JDF order shall only be described once in one form, which all process participants understand, also in external communications with customers and subcontractors and their executing systems in the man-machine and machine-machine communication over all language and platform boundaries.
Contrary to the philosophy of the CIP4-Consortium and the JDF concept based thereon, there are various restrictions and specific differences with reference to the information in real life operations of networked print shops, which the particular process participants need, use, or simply understand. In particular, the visualization of the processing status of an order in a management information system puts substantial requirements on the selection and structuring of the information to be displayed.
For example, the management information system should provide a specific perspective of the processing status in the sense of an ergonomic software design for each workstation, depending on its tasks (e.g. machine control, process control, quality assurance, sales and job accounting), which on the one hand, provides only the required information for these task areas, and on the other hand, all information required for these task areas. Furthermore, this perspective shall display the information in a structured manner, so that they allow an intuitive understanding of the job status and thus, short processing times, and, in particular, fast reactions, in problem situations for the respective employee, also in consideration of his level of training and knowledge.
It is the object of the invention to provide a method as described above, which combines simple handling and administration with high reliability and flexibility, with reference to changing requirements profiles.